The Senators of Texas examine the restoration of the electoral crime authority for the Attorney General

(Texas scorecard)-The Senators of Texas In the committee of the state affairs, the election measures, including a measure that would return to the Attorney General, took into account unilaterally.

The Senate Act 1026, submitted by Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), stipulates that the Attorney General is pursuing the election crimes if the local prosecutors have not started any procedures after six months after their notification.

“According to this law, the local law enforcement agencies, who normally report reports on a probable reason, have to submit to a local public prosecutor and also present these reports to the Attorney General,” said Hughes.

“And at the request of the Attorney General, the local public prosecutor or law enforcement also has to hand over all information about her criminal investigations into these crimes,” he added.

Jeff Barr, head of the General Prosecutor's election integrity department, argued that the Texas General Prosecutor for almost 70 years, since 1951, has the simultaneous authority to prosecute the law enforcement of election crimes through state law.

In December 2021, however, the Texas Court of Appeal decided that the Attorney General could not unilaterally pursue any criminal injuries without the consent of a local district prosecutor.

“In their opinion, the majority of the judges said …” Because the law did not say, it is said that the AG could pursue. Therefore, we only interpret this to do so, that is, if the restaurants give them approval, ”said Barr.

Barr praised Hughes' measure for the creation of an “implicit consent” of the local district prosecutor.

“If, after receiving a law enforcement report, the local district prosecutor determines a probable reason that an election criminal offense does not run within six months … Then this legislation essentially makes this approval to the law enforcement of the AG,” said Barr.

He also emphasized how important it is to pursue the law of 1951 from reading the General Prosecutor “Mai” the alleged crime in order to pursue the alleged crime and to return the state official's simultaneous authority.

State Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) said that he estimated Hughes' measure, but was concerned that the discretion of the Attorney General was limited to “implicit consent”.

“I think it should be explicitly specifically specified,” said Birdwell. “If a future day does not do anything, the Attorney General checks it, it is a way of saying the Attorney General has to say:” Here is why I am not designed and I will pursue criminal law. “Or:” Here is why I agree and I will not pursue any criminal law. “

Hughes sympathized with Birdwell's concerns and asked Barr whether the idea of ​​the senator could be implemented in a future change in the ground without affecting the rest of the measure.

Barr said Hughes, and “our office can certainly deliver a language in this regard.”

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project said against the measure and argued that Barr had misunderstood the judgment of the Court of Criminals about the appeal of crimes and urges the authority of the Attorney General to expand.

Ken Moore, a former election judge, said in favor of SB 1026 and said he had first -hand experience with potential election crimes in the whole state.

“If you have local prosecutors who refuse to do their work and pursue these irregularities, they are really against the wall,” said Moore. “Ironically the Stephens case [from 2021] Helps to emphasize that it was the local prosecutor who refused to deal with this case. “

SB 318, submitted by Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), would set up an election integrity department in the General Prosecutor's Office in Texas. While the office already has lawyers for election integrity, they are currently organized as part of the criminal division.

“Not necessarily knowing whether future AGS will ensure that this priority set remains the highest to protect the public from such incidents,” said Creighton.

Barr warned that because election crimes are a seasonal event, since the creation of a new division is not properly money for the administrator's tax money.

“My concern for the calculation is that I ask whether they are expressly only financed for causes or matters of election tracking,” said Barr.

Barr added that the judgment of 2021 by the Texas Court for Criminal Law and the latest decisions of the Federal Court, which restricted the state persecution of voice counseling, have also limited the skills of the lawyers of the elections.

State Senator Tan Parker (R-Flower-Hügel) asked Barr whether there was a way to find out how the workload could be postponed seasonally internally.

“I hope it,” replied Barr. “I think there should be a certain flexibility so that we can do it.”

Emily Eby French, director of a common thing in Texas, said in contrast to SB 318. She expressly questioned the idea that the lawyers of election integrity have been effective under General Prosecutor Ken Paxton in recent years.

“From October 2020 to September 2021, the attorney's lawyer's lawyer worked on more than 20,000 hours of election cases and closed three. They also only closed three a year in 2016, 2017 and 2019, ”said French.

“In the 2022-2023 financial year, the unit pursued four cases and spent almost $ 2.3 million. From September 2023 to August 2024, they only excluded two cases and spent around $ 1 million, ”she added.

Senators also took into account other election measures.

SB 108, submitted by Senator Bob Hall (R-Edgwood), would clarify the state law and standardize the process for the appointment of elections.

“In previous elections, some counties enabled the chairman of a polling station as the sole approach to election officers who could create an unbalanced system in which irregularities can occur,” said Hall.

“SB 108 would ensure the exchange of political power and create a procedure in which both the judge and the alternative judge can appoint employees,” he added.

Hall's measure would also enable the alternative chairman to work on the presiding judge if he is not present and “freely occupy or observe” the voice location for the alternative chair.

SB 533, submitted by Senator Kevin Sparks (R-Midland), would require a choice to issue bonds or tax increases on the November newspaper date in November.

Borrowing elections can take place all year round. According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the data outside of the regular election season usually have far lower turnout.

James Quintero, a political director of the TPFF taxpay protection project, referred to the “Commosense -Wahl reform” measure, while he testified in favor of SB 533.

“Banket ISDS 86 million US dollars only received 159 yes votes,” said Quintero. “Elsewhere, the city's proposal received only 614 votes from Donna 114.7 million US dollars.”

“Large expensive debt measures are approved by just one handful of people in elections without November,” he added.

SB 511, submitted by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), would be forbidden with minor exceptions, an official or employee of the state or a political subdivision to distribute voter registration cards to a person who does not apply for.

“If someone asks for it, the government can send it to them. But to be honest, instead of his voluntary deputy registrars, deputy registrars, political parties, candidates everywhere and you can do this work without being asked, ”said Bettencourt.

“But the government should not put their thumb on the scale without asking the voters, just as we do with absent ballot locations,” he added.

Kyle Sinclair, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of the Bexar district, testified for SB 511 and explained the experience of his local party in dealing with automatic voter registration.

“There is an organization called Civic Government Solutions, which has received a contract for $ 400,000, to register 220,000 members in Bexar County to do what they would increase for voter sharing,” said Sinclair.

According to Sinclair, the founder of the organization also headed a partisan group and communicated with another four with at least 40 other counties in Texas.

“We also found that the organization was discovered in four different countries that do exactly that,” added Sinclair.

In September 2024, Paxton initiated an investigation into the district court of Bexar County to deal with solutions from the bourgeois government.

The measures were led to the committee up to a later date.